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My favorite European painter is Caravaggio, whom I discovered a few years ago while visiting the San Luigi dei Francesi church in Rome. He was a master of the use of chiaroscuro, and produced some really dramatic (and sometimes graphic) works. Another artist that I just discovered a few months ago that also makes good use of the technique is Dutch painter Gerrit Dou, in particular his Astronomer by Candlelight on display at the Getty Museum in L.A.